For you, Christian, from an Artist

I am not an artist. To be honest, I really don't even know that much about art. I do my best to appreciate it, and often succeed, even if I don't always understand it.

Part of "my call" (I've been wanting to write about that concept, too) to "full-time ministry" (still getting used to that term, too), as lame as it might sound, was a revelation that I'm passionate about a lot of things I'm not very good at. For just one example, I feel really strongly about somehow bringing the arts back into the church, but I'm not an artist myself. And so there was this revelation that maybe God gave me all these strange desires that I couldn't complete myself in order to encourage others to put their gifts to good use.

So, for the rest of you Christians who aren't artists, this eloquent and powerful letter was written for you. Do not be tempted to think of it as an artist whining because he feels left out. We've done that for too long, and that's exactly the problem. I challenge you to read with a bit of empathy, trying to understand, eyes to see, ears to hear.